An Apologetic Reflection of Peter's
Sermon (Acts 3)
The Apostle Peter was a master apologist who
used his boldness, passion, the knowledge of his audience, and vision to connect
Jewish people to the Messiah. Peter’s
sermon in Acts 3 begins with a miracle. Peter
and John were walking into the temple around three-o-clock for a prayer service
when they heard a lame man beg them for money.
Although most people had ignored this man, Peter and John looked at him
intently; Peter told the man to “look at them.”
Since man thought he was about to be given some money, he looked at
Peter and John. Peter told him that he
and John had no money, but there is something they could give him. Then, Peter commanded him, “In the name of
Jesus Christ the Nazarene-get up and walk!”
Peter grabbed the man by the hand and pulls him up to his feet. The man
jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk, and praise God. Nearby, a crowd of Jewish people who were
getting ready for the prayer time saw the miracle. They were aware that this man had been
crippled from birth. The crowd was
amazed and quickly surrounded the healed man.
Peter immediately saw this crowd as an evangelistic opportunity; he
doesn’t miss his chance to tell the Gospel. Peter shares the story of Jesus with the
crowd; he claims Jesus to be the Christ; he challenges the crowd to repent; he hopes
and prays that the nation will turn its heart back to God.
Peter’s Sermon Process
Peter is passionate about the content of his sermons. In all of his sermons in Acts he does not deviate
from his theme. Peter began his sermons
accusing the people of murder. He drew
attention to God’s power and Jesus’ authority.
He ended each sermon with a challenge for the Jews to repent, to return
to God, and to receive rewards.
First, every sermon begins with an opportunity. God placed Peter in positions to share the
gospel. Peter jumped in without
hesitation or fear. The supernatural
phenomenon of the fiery tongues resting on the apostles, which is mentioned in
Acts 2, just occurred. Peter realized
that God had placed him in front of a crowd of amazed people looking for
answers. God allowed him to heal a man in Acts 3; once again, he stood in front
of a group of amazed people. In Acts 4,
Peter was brought in front of the court, and asked to explain his recent
actions. Because Peter refused to stop
preaching in the name of Jesus, he was brought in front of the council in Acts
5. His response was to preach in the
name of Jesus. The final sermon mentioned
in Acts 10 followed a series of supernatural events; an invitation from
Cornelius placed him in front of a group of people. Every time God placed Peter in front of a
group of people where he had the floor, he never missed the opportunity to
share the gospel.
Peter continually used strong language to accuse Jews of
murdering Jesus. For example, in Acts 2,
Peter told them that not only were they murderers, but they were also lawless
in the crucifixion process. In Acts 3 he
threw it in their faces that Pilate wanted to let Jesus go; he pointed out that
they set a murderer free in order to kill the Prince of Life. In Acts 4 he gave them credit for crucifying Christ;
in Acts 5 Peter told the council that they murdered Christ on a tree. In Acts 10 he pointed out to the people that
“you witnessed the things He did”, and you still murdered Him. Peter does not give them the option of blaming
their leaders or being inactive bystanders.
Thirdly, in all of his sermons Peter gave God the credit and
the glory for raising Jesus from the dead.
He emphasized that Jesus was raised because the God that they supposedly
served did the raising.
Fourthly, in his sermons Peter points to the power that
belongs to Christ. This power is why
Jesus conqured death, and it is the reason for the miracles that preceded each
sermon. In Acts 2 Peter said Jesus was “exalted to the right hand of God”. He gives Christ’s power the credit for
healing the crippled man in Acts 3; in Acts 4 Peter says Jesus is “The Chief
Cornerstone”. Peter says in Acts 5 that Jesus
is “exalted to God’s right hand”, and He is “Prince and Savior”. Peter said that Jesus is ordained by God to be
“Judge of the living and the dead in Acts 10.
In all five sermons Peter examined the spiritual power that Jesus has
and in essence the authority that the power points to.
Finally, in every sermon, Peter
called the people to repent and told them that blessings would follow if they did. Peter said in Acts 2 they would have “their
sins remitted and they would receive the Holy Spirit”. Their sins would be “Blotted out”, and they would
have times of refreshing from the presence of God in Acts 3. In Acts 4 they would receive salvation, and
in Acts 5, “their sins would be forgiven”. They would receive a remission of
sins in Acts 10. As tough as Peter’s
sermons were, he ended each one with hope.
God had not given up on His people; if they repented He still wanted to
heap blessings on them.
Peter Knows His Audience
Peter used three simple assessments which
helped him in sharing with the crowd in Acts 3.
He knew that the crowd was a group of practicing Jews; therefore he
spent a portion of his sermon validating Jesus as the Messiah who had been mentioned
throughout Jewish history. Peter knew that the crowd had been through a
spiritual rollercoaster the past few months.
Their intention of coming to the Passover and Pentecost and celebrating
in the typical way was shattered because of the resurrection of Jesus and the arrival
of the Holy Spirit. Peter spent some
time showing that the connection between these events had tremendous value to
the Jewish person. Finally, Peter was able to use the setting of the temple and
the prayer service itself to guide the people to repentance.
Peter specifically showed the Jewish
people that the Messiah talked about throughout history was Jesus. It was a simple observation that since the
crowd was at the temple for a time of Jewish prayer, they had to be practicing
Jews. Peter even opened up his sermon by
calling his listeners “Men of Israel”(Acts 3:12). Peter realized he must show the link between
Jesus and the historical Jewish faith if he had any chance of convincing this
crowd that Jesus was the Messiah. He began
his sermon by drawing attention to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Acts 3:13). He wanted the people to know that the God these
three giants of the faith served had put His approval on Jesus. Peter argued that it was God Himself who raised
Jesus from the dead. The amazing act of
healing which the people had just witnesses and that it is through the
Messiah’s power by which the people have just witnessed was done through the
Messiah’s power. Later in his sermon he
used a quote from Moses (Acts 3:22) which not only showed that Moses was
waiting for Jesus to come, but it also reinforced Jesus’ connection to the
Jewish people. Peter mentioned Samuel knowing that the Jewish people knew the
scriptures well. They would have
recalled that Samuel had foretold the Messiah coming from the line of David
(Samuel 7:12-13). Peter was once again connecting
Jesus to the historical faith when he used language that the Jewish audience would
have recognized from Isaiah 52 and 53, a text that described the coming Messiah. In Act 3:13 Peter said that God glorified His
servant Jesus, which was the same language used in Isaiah 52:13. In Acts 3:14, Peter refered to Jesus as “the
Righteous One” which was identical to the language used in Isaiah 53:11. Everything
that Peter says directly and indirectly emphasizes that Jesus was connected to
the God of history, that Jesus was the Messiah the Jewish people had been
looking for, and that He was the Messiah they should trust now.
Peter was aware that the people listening
to him had had their spiritual beliefs thrown into chaos because of the events
of Passover and Pentecost. Whether they had traveled to Jerusalem or were
natives of the city, they expected a typical Passover and Pentecost event; instead,
they encountered chaos. A few months earlier Jewish people had sat down for the
Pascal meal, which God had instituted (Exodus 12:14). During this meal His people had been reminded
through scripture, instruction, and food that they were God’s people. They owed allegiance to Jehovah alone. During the meal they had heard the story of
Moses and how God had used him to deliver them from Egyptian bondage. The main portion of the meal would be lamb,
which they would use to remember they had been delivered from the plague of
death by the blood of the Passover Lamb (Genesis 12:1-13). The Paschal meal and each food item in it was
drenched with symbolism that they were God’s people. Not long after having this meal the people of Jerusalem
would experience the high profile execution of Jesus; three days later he would
rise from the dead. A few weeks later
the city was preparing for The Feast of Weeks, during Pentecost, in which Jews
were to give an offering to God for what he had given them. There was time set up to reflect on God’s Ten
Commandments, through which God’s relationship to his people was consecrated. That year, on the day of Pentecost, the people
heard a loud and violent wind. when a
large crowd of people came to see what the loud sound was they saw the supernatural
phenomenon of fire come down and rest on the apostles. Then these people of many nations heard the
apostles speak; no matter what language the people in the crowd had, everyone
understood. Peter preached to the crowd
on the day of Pentecost; many decided to follow the apostles teaching. As Peter began his sermon in Acts he was able
to assume that this chaotic holy season had been the experience of every person
at the temple. Since Pentecost, the
chaos had begun to slow down; however, the healing of the man in front of them
had amped up the electricity in the city once again. Peter wanted to show the Jewish people that
the chaos they had experienced had value to them. Throughout Acts 3 Peter reminded the people the
sin of not believing in Jesus. He was
not careful with how harsh he was to the crowd.
He recounted the opportunities they had to do the right thing, and
reminded them that in the end they murdered Jesus. Then, he gave them the good news that if they
connected to the Resurrection they could be saved. Peter did not mention directly the Arrival of
the Holy Spirit, but if they decided to follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit would
arrive in their lives. The resurrection
and the arrival of the Holy Spirit forever changed Passover and Pentecost. The
Jewish people needed to know that these two events were not an interruption to
this Holy season. God had set these
events in place since the beginning of time; the Passover and Pentecost of
history had always pointed to this moment.
The audience needed to make the correction.
In Acts 3:1 Peter and John were heading
to the temple at the ninth hour, which was around 3:00pm. This afternoon prayer time was known as the
Mincha. By tradition the Jewish people
would participate in the prayer service five days a week. The people knew this prayer service well,
much of it by memory. When Peter saw the
Jewish people gather around him after the miracle, he knew the hearts of the
people because he knew the Mincha prayers for which they had prepared. There were three parts to the Mincha service:
The Ashrei, the Amidah, and the Tachanun.
The Jewish people came to the temple with their heart prepared for what
they were to pray. Many of the prayers
they knew by heart, and all of them they knew well. The Jewish people drew a direct connection
between participating in the prayers thoughtfully and being granted a place in
Heaven.
The major part of the Ashrei, the first
part of the Mincha, was the recitation of Psalms 145. The basic themes of the Ashrei were that
People were happy when they were close to God, God cared about the poor and
oppressed, and that God rewarded good behavior and punished evil. There
was a pneumonic device that allowed the Jewish people to memorize this part of
the prayer service, and they were well versed on it. These people had prepared their hearts to
pray and knew the teaching and the themes of the Ashrei. The theme of being happy when they were close
to God was being tested because they were seeing God move through the
supernatural events that were taking place in their city, but it must have been
difficult for them to align themselves with this movement of God that was
changing everything about their faith. They
were seeing for God care for the poor and oppressed with the healing of the man
that was lame. The third element of the
Ashrei was that God rewarded good behavior and punished bad behavior. This must have cut them to the heart when
Peter called them murderers.
The second part of the Mincha, the
Amidah, is a list of 19 blessings from God.
These blessings began with the “Refuah” which was a praising God for his
power to heal the sick. This part of the
prayer might have had extra significance as they watched the formerly lame man
jumping and praising God. One of the
last prayers was known as the “Birkat David” which asked God to bring the
Messiah to them. This prayer must have
crushed them as they were accused of killing the very blessing they were
praying out loud for God to bring to them.
Before the Jewish people would
prayerfully leave the service they would participate in the Tachanun
prayer. This prayer time would begin with
the reciting of Psalms 78:38: “Yet he
was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after
time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.” This verse has
a clear parallel to the preaching of Peter.
The Jewish people headed to the temple that day prepared to recite a
verse that declared that even though they deserved destruction, God was
merciful, and that his full wrath and anger was restrained. The Jewish people were being accused of
murdering God’s son, and Peter was proclaiming the good news that God is
merciful, He will forgive them, he will not destroy them, and that once again his
anger will be restrained. During the
Mincha, after the reciting of Psalms 78:38 the people would pray the viduy,
which is a prayer of confession followed by a reading of God’s 13 attributes of
mercy. This again accentuated their need
to confess their sin of murder and thank God that He is not withholding His
mercy from them.
Peter’s
Goal is For the Nation to Repent
As Peter stood before his people giving a
sermon, he had a deep longing for the nation of Israel to see their sin,
repent, and return to God through a connection to Jesus. In Acts 3:19 at the end of his sermon he
pleaded with the people to “repent and return.”
The outcome of repentance would be that “their sins would be wiped
away”. Peter knew that only though Jesus
would the Jewish people find salvation. Neither
the resurrection of Jesus nor the supernatural arrival of the Holy Spirit had
transformed the hearts of the Jewish people. The healing of this lame man gave
him one more shot at urging God’s people back to God. At the end of Acts 3:19 Peter spoke of “times
of refreshing” which tapped into a major theme of the history of Jewish people
that there is blessing and restoration on the kingdom when the people follow
God (Acts 1:6), and there is slavery and destruction when the people turn their
backs to God (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).
Peter’s
Sermon Was a Failure
Peter’s sermon did not achieve what he
hoped it would. The corporate Jewish
nation did not repent and return to God through Jesus; their rebellion would
continue; and there would not be restoration for God’s people. Peter’s failure
was amplified when after the completion of the sermon he and John were arrested,
and they were forbidden to preach in the name of Jesus again.
Despite the fact that the sermon failed
to achieve the goal of bringing the Jewish people back to God, there were some
positives to come from the sermon. First,
you can’t overlook the 2000 people who became followers that day (Acts 4:4). The lives of these people and their families
were eternally altered. As Christianity
spread it could be assumed that God used some of these converts as tools to
further His agenda. Another success was
how Peter and John used their arrest to share the Gospel. Peter and John were standing in center of a
room surrounded by some of the most intimidating and powerful people in town. These powerful men began questioning Peter and
John. After an intense time of questions
about their authority and the court forbidding them to preach in Jesus’ name
Peter was given a moment to speak. Peter
gave a repeat performance of the same sermon he had given the day before, and
doesn’t hesitate to call them murderers.
God gave Peter and John the audience to share the Gospel with the
powerful men of the court, and that was a success that came out of the sermon. The final success of the sermon was that God
had the sermon placed in the New Testament.
For thousands of years God has rewarded Peter’s boldness and obedience
and used the sermon to lead many to Himself.
The sermon may have been a failure in its intent, but the fruit produced
from the sermon is immeasurable.
Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 is a fantastic model
how of we should connect with people apologetically. Most Christians could learn from how intently
Peter looked for opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. When
Peter found an opportunity, he seized it boldly and without fear or hesitation.
Most Christians passively wait for God
to drop evangelistic opportunities in their laps. Peter was conscious of the people he was
talking to, and he used what he knew of them to persuade them to follow Christ. Modern Christians would be more successful in
leading others to Christ if we cared about the person, to whom we were talking. If we took time to learn about people’s beliefs
and desires, then we could use that knowledge to spread the gospel. When Peter gave a sermon he did not shy away
from using bold nearly inflammatory language. We also need to have the courage to talk
honestly about the punishment of sin.
Peter had a very specific process when talking about the Gospel, and we also
need to create a personal process that we use to share the Gospel. We can also learn from Peter’s sermon when we
realize that He probably didn’t think it was very successful, but God used it over
thousands of years to build the kingdom and continues to use it. When we speak to someone apologetically we
need to worry less about the success of the encounter because we have no idea how
God may bless our obedience. If we were
to study Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 and take on his boldness, passion for the
message, knowledge of our audience, and vision we would be more successful in
furthering the kingdom.
